HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Tong, M. J. Articles by Tsai, C.-C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Tong, M. J. Articles by Tsai, C.-C.

Immunological Response in Leptospirosis^*

REPORT OF THREE CASES

Myron J. Tong, Eugene B. Rosenberg, Bernhard A. Votteri AND Che-Chung Tsai^¶

In three patients with leptospirosis, improvement of clinical symptoms was closely associated with the appearance of agglutinating, complement-fixing, and hemolytic antibodies in the circulation. Elevations in the serum concentrations of IgG, IgA, and IgM were also demonstrated. In one patient, recurrence of fever and meningitis during the immune phase coincided with the appearance of agglutinins and increases in the levels of all three immunoglobulins in the spinal fluid. Ultracentrifugation of immune sera in sucrosedensity gradients showed that IgM was the predominant immunoglobulin involved in the agglutination, complement-fixation, and hemolytic tests. Although antibodies are important in the development of immunity during the septicemic phase, its role in the pathogenesis of clinical symptoms during the immune phase is still unclear.

Accepted for publication February 1, 1971.

^* This study was supported through funds provided by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Navy Department, Work Unit No. M4305.06 3030A. The opinions or assertions contained herein are those of the authors and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Navy Department or the Naval Service at large.

Requests for reprints should be addressed to Publications Editor, NAMRU-2, Box 14, APO San Francisco, California 96263.

Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, Los Angeles, California 90033.

Immunology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014.

Department of Medicine, Wadsworth Veterans Administration Hospital, Los Angeles, California 90073.

^¶ U. S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 2, Taipei, Taiwan.